Rookie guard Iman Shumpert is expected to miss his second straight game tonight because of patella tendinitis in his left knee and likely will pull out of the All-Star Slam Dunk competition Saturday, according to a person close to the situation.
Shumpert probably will miss tomorrow’s game in Miami too to rest him until after the All-Star break. Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni said he played him on his bum knee for at least three weeks out of necessity. His status for the slam-dunk contest is very shaky.
D’Antoni is giving Shumpert a rest, and it also gives the coach a chance to blend in two backcourt newcomers in shooting guard J.R. Smith and backup point guard Baron Davis.
In Monday’s 100-92 loss to the Nets, Shumpert was clearly missed as another defender on Deron Williams, who scored 38 points and shredded Jeremy Lin from the outside. Shumpert likely would have been used as a defensive stopper late as he was against Jose Calderon last week in Toronto.
Shumpert was snubbed from the Rising Stars Challenge game despite being widely considered the best defensive rookie in basketball.
Shumpert had hoped to have teammate Jeremy Lin help him in the dunk competition. Lin was a late add to the Rising Stars Challenge, a game played by rookies and second-year players.
* The Knicks get a double bonus by the knee injury of the Hawks’ Joe Johnson. He won’t face the Knicks tonight, and he has pulled out of the All-Star Game, giving commissioner David Stern a chance to add center Tyson Chandler.
Stern isn’t required to add a guard. Chandler, who led Dallas to the NBA title, has never made the All-Star Game and the coaches voted Indiana’s young center Roy Hibbert. Chandler has tightened the Knicks defense and leads the NBA in field-goal percentage at 70.7 percent while averaging 11.9 points and 9.6 rebounds.
* An online auction for a Lin game-worn jersey to benefit the Garden of Dreams Foundation raised $42,388. The jersey was worn during the Lakers’ win on Feb. 10.
* MSG Network’s last two Knicks telecasts — Friday against the Hornets and Monday’s Nets game — were the highest-rated regular season events on MSG since the network began tracking household ratings at the start of the 1988-89 NBA season.